Alone but Not Lost
by EchoGalen
Summary: AU post apocalyptic world. Carmilla died for nothing and the end of the world was brought about. Laura, separated from her friends, has to traverse the country full of demons, vampires (and oh my gosh, are those zombies?) to try to find them. Carmilla (Web Series)
1. The Beginning of the End?

They were getting their asses quite literally beaten after rushing to the Old Chapel all those months before. Perry had taken out Will when they first got there since no one was really paying attention to them. But even that would soon be proven irrelevant.

They were captured after that and they were only saved when Danny came bursting in with half her squad of athletic girls, ready to kick ass and get back their friends. It was marvelous, their union to do good, uncaring of the seriously screwed up rally Danny must have put on to tell them vampires had been kidnapping the girls and they had to attack now or lose them all.

Laura would have giggled at that if things were different. But they weren't. Nothing was.

The blinding light had been loving and kind, beckoning all the students in the room to come towards it. To cherish it.

It wasn't until Carmilla came swooping in just before Laura walked into the giant chasm in the floor, grabbing the nape of her neck with a strong hand and flinging her back, that they were saved. But Laura knew they weren't. She knew because the vampire carried the one thing she should never possess in her hands.

She had that stupid sword.

The Dean was at their throat in no time flat; turning into a murder of crows and diving and clawing at Carmilla. The vampire fought her mother off easily with that sword that glowed with radiance, the radiance of Carmilla's soul.

Eventually the Dean lost her strength and turned back into her normal form, helpless as her daughter butted her in the face with the hilt of the weapon.

It would have been fine if that was all that had happened. It would have been okay even if the Summer Society and the Zetas were getting their asses kicked in the background. As long as Carmilla was alright, everything would be okay.

But it wasn't okay, Laura found as Carmilla looked back to her after the blinding light.

She said some quip, the only thing Laura heard over the rumbling and shouts of fighting all around her. It was if Carmilla and her were the only two in the room, the brunette's eyes brimming with tears after witnessing Ell, but looking away from her once love to look at her...

Then she jumped. She jumped into the chasm with the sword over her head, hitting it home in the beautiful light.

She had saved them. She had sacrificed herself, the damn hero of the story, to save Laura.

But it was for nothing. It was all for nothing.

The light still rose after moments of disgusting laughter from the Dean, her arms rising over her head as she screamed that 'The God had Risen!'. The once dead vampires, ashes to ashes and dust to dust, rose again after dust particles and their ashes swirled and coalesced. Will's eyes scanning the scared students for none other than Perry, though LaFontaine stood between them.

They came in droves, those damn vampires.

They had no choice but to run then. But they couldn't as the vampires barred their paths at the Dean's command.

The God had risen, Carmilla's death meant absolutely nothing, and then-

* * *

><p>Laura, clad in a dark brown tank top with darkened cargo pants, gasped as she tripped over something large, snapping her out of her memories, and she would have thought it was a root and kept walking if not for the thing feeling... squishy.<p>

Recovering, she looked round and looked in horror at a girls body half covered in leaves, which is why Laura didn't see her at first, and obviously dead for some time. Squatting down, she gave the girl a once over.

The golden patch on the girls chest identified her as a sister from the Summer Society though Laura could not recognize her from her face. Not that the girl had many identifiable facial structures to help with the recognition anyways. She had obviously been out here for weeks, probably getting caught by Will's hunting party of demons and vampires the bright light had spit out after it rose into the air above the university.

Regardless, it wasn't Danny, thank god, and Laura let out a breath before bending down slowly.

You've done this before, she thought coldly, running a hand over her hair pulled tight into a pony tail, trying to will herself into the action. You have to search her pockets. She could have weapons or at least a map.

Laura let out a slow breath before sucking in air to hold in her lungs. Slowly, she placed her combat boot next to the girl's corpse and started rifling through her many pockets. Good thing about Summer Society girls was that they always wore useful clothing to keep all their gear in.

Trying not to look in her eyes, or get too close for fear of the smell, Laura's efforts rewarded her with a small pocket knife and something wrapped in aluminum foil; hopefully, the girl thought, it was food. It wasn't easy finding animals she could hunt with the little knowledge of combat she had, and she was seriously hungry. She placed the aluminum in her own pocket and wiped her hands on her cargo pants. All she had to do now was-

The hair on her bare arms rose and Laura's senses pricked as she heard the brush stir behind her; a twig snapping under something heavy. She went completely still, her eyes looking down to see if the pocket knife was a flip trigger or if she had to personally flick the blade outward. It probably wouldn't save her if it was a vampire or demon, but a zombie could be taken out if she was careful. All the stupid things spit out by the God-Light, why did it have to be zombies?

Her breath came out in huffs as she slowly moved her left arm as slowly and concealed as possible, pulling up the small blade out of its holder. Just one clean shot, she pleaded. I still have to find Danny and the others. I still have so much to do. God, please don't let me die now.

Mustering up her courage, Laura turned swiftly, dropping her bag of supplies to be more nimble on her feet, but stopped dead as she took in the enormous sight in front of her.

Hunched over in a predatory stance was a giant black cat. It's red orbs looked straight into hazel and its tail flicked quickly, telling Laura it recognized she had looked at it, and if she dare look away, well... game over.

Laura could see the muscles rippling under the inky coat as he bent lower to the ground as if ready to sprint. The demon would be on her in no time at all and only a few seconds later a strong jaw would pierce her throat to disembowel her. What could she possibly do against a killing machine like that?

Clutching the knife in her right hand, Laura raised her left in a defensive gesture so that when the cat attacked the weight would be pulled to her left arm so that her right could swing hard into a neck or skull. What was she even thinking? If this thing decided to attack she'd be dead before she knew it.

Pink shot out of the cat's mouth as it licked its jaws, and Laura gulped, knowing that meant-

Blackness clouded her vision before she could even let out a scream. Laura felt her left arm catch the weight, but it did nothing for her shock and she felt herself go tumbling down without warning. The thing was on her chest now, crushing her with its immense weight, and all Laura could see was those muscles of its shoulder stretching and pulling as its sharp claw raised into the air. It's back legs were scratching across her thighs and its huge paws were on her chest.

Oh god!

Closing her eyes, she tried to find the will to raise her right hand, try to attack the thing, do something before she died. Laura let out a cry when the giant paw came crashing down on her forearm, effectively pinning her to the ground; its claws digging into the dirt.

It wasn't going to end like this, she thought as she looked up into blood orbs with her teeth bared in a snarl. It couldn't end like this. She still had to find Danny. She still had her dad. So much more to do. God, she had to find a way to bring Carmilla back and end this nightmare!

The feline on top of her, made itself larger blocking out Laura's view of the sky, making it impossible for her to even kick out her legs. She could do nothing but wait for this thing to stop playing with her and just end her life.

As if the cat read her mind, its head raised higher into the air before crashing down with its mouth wide open, presumably for Laura's neck. She closed her eyes tight, her breath stopping in her throat, her body going limp as it waited for the death strike.

Please, not like this!


	2. Friend or Foe?

The group of friends were rushing through body after body of awestruck college goers as the shining orb lifted slowly from the ground. It had already destroyed the roof of the Old Chapel and was now a quarter into the sky, its radiance spreading across the faces of all the onlookers at was once Silas University.

Danny was the one pulling Laura along. It was always Danny. She was screaming something to her, making her hold onto something in the hand she was pulling her by.

It was an aluminum bat with Lawrence written on it in bold red letters. Danny had used this same lucky bat to hit a home run finish at the Silas U softball game 40-5. But why was she giving it to Laura?

"We barely got out of there," Danny was saying after they all exited their dorm room after grabbing a copious amount of supplies that the amazon and Lafontaine were hording. "God, how could there be so many! Shit, Laura you listen to me, okay. If we ever get separated, there's an old cabin the Society girls used to spend midterms at. I need you to go there. Its straight east of Silas deep in the woods." She was running out of breath because they were sprinting across campus now. She was also screaming the same thing to Lafontaine and Perry, though the latter was petrified while she kept looking behind them. Danny continued, "Laura, are you listening to me?"

"Yes," said a dazed Laura. "Straight east through the woods. Hard to find, deep in the woods. Deep in the woods.." _Had Carmilla really died for nothing?_

"Okay, Laura just keep hold of me and-"

Laura screamed Danny's name while she was thrown from her by some unseen force. She screamed her name when Perry and Lafontaine urged her on, making a b-line for the woods that led off campus.

She screamed strong, powerful, loving Danny's name when the last image she saw of her was standing up swiftly after being thrown and screaming towards the woods as fast as she could, the thing that had attacked her hot on her tail. Laura screamed for Danny with a tear stricken call, losing the second person she cared for in her life in the snap of her fingers. Everything was just so very wrong.

Laura needed Danny. She needed her as she ran through the brush with her other two friends, the only other people she cared for as deeply as one only could for friends that had gone through the apocalypse together. But Danny...

* * *

><p>She wished Danny were here now.<p>

The pain rippling through her body was so intense, Laura thought she was in her last throws of death. All she could hear was the rushing of her blood and a high pitched, thunderous sound. She wanted to hold her ears, but the cat above her was pushing them further into the ground by simply lowering its full weight onto her, the gigantic claws tearing up the hard packed earth yet still the hind legs scratching into her flesh.

Slowly, slowly the rumbling sound began to dissipate and Laura heard one last high pitched scream across the sky before it was completely gone. Was that..?

A sharp gasp escaped her as the giant feline moved its paws to the sides of her body and lifted itself from her. Laura curled into the fetal position, bringing her fist up to cough into it, holding her chest as she did. Her nostrils were filled with cat-smell and the vomit inducing smell of the decomposing Summer Society girl laying only inches away from her. Covering her mouth, Laura scooted back in the dirt with her heels, willing herself to get to her pack of supplies.

All she had to do was get her bag and the aluminum baseball bat tucked securely in what once was used to hold water bottles. A small knife wouldn't be enough to bring down the cat now squatted contently and sitting in the dirt, but maybe Danny's bat would be.

Laura's heart thundered in her chest when the cat finally moved, but with less urgency than before. It bounded straight in front of her, tilted its head, and lept behind her. Turning her head slowly, she saw it was sniffing around her bag.

_No, nononono, not there!_

Red orbs looked back to her, but this time its pupils were not slit but rounded as if playing, and it swatted the bat before shaking its massive head.

Laura tried to scoot away again, the feline coming near her, and she would have reached for the knife if not for the strange sensation rushing over her body. Before she could figure it out and react, the cat was inches away from her, lowering its head to sniff her superficial wounds on her thighs where the claws had scratched across her.

Warm and rough, the tongue flicked across her injuries delicately before massive paws with sheathed claws patted the outer portions of her thigh.

"Soooo you're _not_ going to eat me?" Laura asked softly, still afraid to speak for fear of spooking the beast, pointing towards herself. The feline's head tilted as it looked up to her and Laura shook her head. "Okay, the giant cat isn't going to eat me. That's.. good... Probably good." Looking back up she asked, "What was that in the sky? I thought I heard a screech or something."

The cat simply yawned.

"Right. And now you're talking to a demon cat that will probably eat you in a few hours. Such a great partnership, Laura."

Her heart constricted when the cat raised up onto its paws and nudged its face into hers. She didn't let out a slow breath until the panther scooted away and sat with its tail in front of its legs, much like a house cat.

Laura looked on in suspicion. Thinking for a moment, a light bulb seemed to go off in her head and she cried, "Oh crap! I've never seen anything that could fly but the Dean. Oh my gosh, did you just save me from being spotted by her?"

The feline exhaled a breath and with it a purr. It licked its lips again and carmine orbs looked languidly towards the sky.

"Not that I'm not totally thankful for the help," Laura said transfixed, "but why did you help me? Didn't you get spit out from the God-Light thing? Owe it your allegiance or something demon-y."

The cat, again, yawned and tilted its head.

Laura scrunched up her face and averted her eyes. Waiting a moment, she spoke again, "Sooo... if you're not going to kill me, can I get my bag and go?"

Muscles rippled as the feline raised and stretched, its sharp canines being all Laura saw as it yawned, and it immediately moved out of her way and sat next to her side; giving her a straight path to her bag of supplies. Laura slowly raised to her feet, trying not to wince at the cuts in her leg, while keeping an eye on the cat to make sure it wouldn't move. She walked briskly to her bag, taking out her bat as she slipped it on.

"Okay, I'm just going to walk away now, and you're not going to follow me. Okay, kitty?" When there was no response but a blink, she haltingly said, "Okay. Good, kitty."

Laura gave her sympathies in one last look to the dead Society girl, and slowly walked backwards as she looked at the cat the entire time. Biting her lip, she made every effort possible to keep quite from tripping over tree roots and bumping into stumps and hanging vines.

She didn't turn until the brush was all she could see, and those red orbs were no longer piercing her vision. Yet somehow, those glistening eyes were the only thing she could see as she walked for the rest of the day until dusk.

* * *

><p>"Last of the beans, last of the none moldy bread," Laura sang softly to herself as she scraped out what was left of the canned pork beans from its container and sloshed it into the small pot she used to cook her meals.<p>

She would have simple cooked it inside the container, but from the overheating of last nights meal and the imminent explosion of it made her wary.

Biting off small pieces of bread while she waited for the beans to cook through, she looked up through leaves of the giant tree she sat under, after checking to make sure the bandages on her knees were still clean, and tried to see the stars. Maybe after staring at them for a few moments she would be able to hear Carmilla talking to her about them again.

"Yeah, you have a better chance of Hell freezing over. Oh wait."

Laura rolled her eyes. She had picked up the habit of talking to herself only a week or so after she lost LaFontaine and Perry in a bumrush of vampire attacks. The habit was an annoying one but for some reason, she just couldn't stop herself. She had literally no one now and a little part of her wished for the cat's presence. At least then she wouldn't feel so alone anymore. Even if the thing was going to eat her eventually.

Her heart lept into her throat, and possibly a piece of bread lodging itself there, when a gigantic black form jumped down from above her and landed straight in front of her. Coughing, Laura almost screamed before she saw red orbs looking at her.

"Kitty?" she childishly asked. Maybe if she wished for Danny or the others, they would pounce down from tree branches too...

The cat stared at her for a few more moments before it opened its jaws and a small form fell from its teeth. Upon closer inspection, Laura found it was a small plump pigeon.

Looking back up she asked, "Is this for me?"

The cat licked its mouth before turning away from her to cozy next to the fire made of brambles and a flint match Laura had acquired. It circled the small flame once before plopping down and placing its head on paws.

"Okay... new partnership then," she said as she picked up the fat pigeon and carried it to the fire.

Sitting back on the ground, she started picking out the feathers like her overprotective father used to teach her to do. Looking at the cat here and there, Laura pursed her lips before saying, "You know if this new teamwork is going to work, you're going to have to tell me your name." A small growl came from the cats throat and Laura immediately giggled a nervous reply, "Or not. Up to you and all."

A few minutes passed, Laura diligently finishing plucking the pigeon and the cat laying as still as rock. She wondered if it was sleeping and was surprised when her thoughts were not filled of concern or trying to sneak away from it. They had a strange connection, she had no doubt about that, but she also had to wonder if the cat was playing with her to get to the others. A victorious smile swept across her lips when she thought of Danny, LaFontaine and Perry getting the better of the Dean and she huffed a small breath after placing down the pheasant, making sure it was in sight of the feline just in case it got hungry, and retrieving her beans.

She knew there was much more terrain to cover but she could afford taking the cat around in circles for a few hours. Maybe it would get bored and finally leave for good.

"Or just eat me," Laura whispered, chewing the beans slowly as she watched the cat suspiciously.

_Probably eat me. Yep. Definitely eat me._

She continued to watch the cat as she placed her gear back into her bag after wiping it down with the last of her sanitizing wipes, covering the small fire with dirt to cover any smoke, and placed the pack next to the tree. Punching it into a more comfortable position, she laid her head back onto it, her arms crossed, as she watched.

Tomorrow would be a big day, she thought. Thankfully she knew what cabin Danny told her of all those months before, and she wondered if she could possibly get there tomorrow or even the next day. The thrill of seeing her friends again tore at her heart, and she had to cross her arms tighter for fear or letting out a whimper.

Yes, tomorrow was the day.

That was, of course, if the cat didn't decide to eat her in the middle of the night and all.


	3. Dead or Alive?

Laura tromped through the trees and underbrush, swinging vines and branches out of her face, with the fervor of an elephant. She didn't give a damn if she wasn't being quite, nor did she care about the stupid panther walking idly behind her. The first time she had looked behind herself grumpily and into red orbs, she squinted hard and made a face at the beast, telling it loud and clear she was pissed off and not in the innocent way.

The pigeon the cat had gotten her the night before was hanging by its broken neck from her pack, also in clear sight of the panther just in case it got hungry, and it swung against the almost empty canteen of water. That was also an annoyance. She had not realized how low she was the previous night, what with the cat from hell pouncing down to her camp, and she wanted shake the canteen over and over to see if water would magically appear inside.

Laura knew she would have to find water soon as she looked around, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear with the sudden wind whistling through the trees.

Sighing, Laura continued on.

* * *

><p>The smell of matches and cinnamon fills her nostrils as she pushes her head deeper into her pillow. The smell is coming from just opposite her, laying right beside her in bed, and Laura doesn't have to open her eyes to know who it is.<p>

She inhales slowly, drawing it out, before she opens her mouth and whispers, "I've missed you."

A caress all the more sweeter coming from that woman, her fingers running across Laura's cheeks, and a faint string of words, "I never left, cutie."

Laura shakes her head, her hands which are in front of her face pressing downward onto the pillow. "But you did. No," Laura giggles, her eyes filled with tears as she turns slightly and looks to her companion after she shakes her head, "you did!"

"Alright," the girl says, her hands encompassing Laura's accusing finger and bringing it to her lips. "I did leave. But it was for your own good."

She could taste spice apple in her throat as she breathed in the girl and Laura replied, "Do you know how sick I am of people always doing what they think is best for me? I can take care of myself."

"You've been doing a great job for the past few weeks."

"Damn right I have!" Laura giggled again, her tears turning icy against the pillow she lay on. She realized it was her yellow one, and that the familiar room did nothing to ease her as all she could see was the girl laying in front of her. Beautiful brown eyes on hers.

"You have to let me go."

"No."

"Laura..."

"There's no reason to!" She was suddenly agitated and she sat up in bed, her left arm out so she could still face her lover. "You're going to come back. You're a vampire!"

She sits up slowly and rubs Laura's arms. It brings gooseflesh its wake. "You can't keep coming here. You have to keep your mind on the real world."

There's a beat taken to look into the girl's eyes, to see how sincere they are, before Laura sits cross legged and arms pressed hard against her. This was the argument tainting the goodness the last few weeks every time she dreamed and it was tearing her down one piece at a time."I have lost everyone," she sniffles, a hand wiping at her eyes. She refused to be weak. Not now, not again. "Are you really asking me to forget about you too?"

"That's not what I-"

"I lost you before any of this began. I've lost Danny literally the day of. And LaFontaine and Perry only a week and a half after. I have been alone for months, Carm! This is my only reprieve, and yeah maybe it's bad to dream so deeply when my face could be nawd off by a zombie right now, but at least I would see your face again." Shaking her head, her lips tightening into a line as she tried to control her emotions as she looked to the comforter and says, "Magic and zombies and vampires and evil creatures and giant cats and everything. Why is it so bad that I want to see you in the sanctity of my own mind?"

It took her a moment to compose herself, her hands tightening in the folds of her comforter while hot tears fell down her face and made residence in them. She wondered why Carmilla wasn't speaking, or was she contemplating like she always did, and she had to gawk at herself. The girl was simply a figment of her imagination brought about by acute stress.

But still..

Laura's eyes raised slowly to the space she knew Carmilla was sitting in, and she let out a horrible scream. There, in Carmilla's place, was a human shaped body but with the face of a grotesque, decomposing panther head. It's mouth was open and Laura could see it salivating yellow ooze from between its teeth and the crumpling of an ear filled with maggots.

She tried to scream again, backtrack on the bed or hell, even wake the hell up, but the cat-thing lunged to her and suddenly her mouth was filled with writhing creatures and wiggling ooze.

"No!" she cried as her arms flew up, making contact with what she thought was the creature. Her cheek was warm and wet and she just knew maggots were still crawling across her.

Opening her eyes, when did she have them closed, she looked up to the brightness of what could have laughingly been the sun, if not for her conscious mind telling her it was simply the influence of the Hungry Light, and Laura heard the thundering in her chest.

Sitting up slowly, she looked around even slower and saw what she had made contact with. The panther had its head down, its eyes on her, as it licked its paw indigently and cleaned its nose where she had most undoubtedly smacked it.

"Oh," she breathed, her heart rate finally coming to rest, "I'm sorry if I hit you. Bad dream," she mumbled as she saw something else behind the cats eyes.

Something that could have been mistaken for caring.

* * *

><p>She knew she should be more quite, but the dream mixed with the rude awakening jutted from her heart and was in the process of tearing it apart. If she didn't have anger then she'd break down, and god forbid she do that in front of the demon cat even if it had saved her from her own nightmare with its soft head jutting and kisses. She didn't know why, but she wanted to keep her feelings and all other physical ailments out of sight of the panther. It was deeper than hiding her weakness from her enemy she knew, and Laura could tell there was something there in those carmine orbs that made her want to hide though she couldn't place her finger on it.<p>

Rolling her eyes, she walked a few more feet before stopping dead as she heard the soft accent of rushing water. Listening for a few moments, an unconventional smile broke out amongst her features and she whispered, "Water!" before running off into the direction she heard it coming from. The cat immediately took up a sprint after her, and her heart seized for a moment in thinking it would finally attack her. Cat be damned, she thought as she ran, if I'm going to die, I'm going to die on my terms. Just like Danny and Carmilla would want.

She should have been careful. She should have checked her surroundings like LaF had taught her to do before they had gotten separated. But the excitement of not dying of dehydration was too overwhelming and she burst out of the trees loudly.

Her eyes widened in fear, arms working in windmill motions to right herself as she abruptly came to a halt, her smile turning into a frown as all along the riverbank stood nothing but a horde of zombies no doubt drawn from the sound of the trickling water.

"Ohhhh crap!"

* * *

><p>And amazon of a woman catapults through the trees at an alarming rate. Her fire red hair whisks behind her, clasped in a pony tail, and her combat boots hit the squelch of mud with a thud. It wasn't like the things chasing her were fast, but she still needed to get away. Trying to invade an armed supply cabin set up during the school year at Silas was seriously a bad idea considering the "armed" meant zombies.<p>

Danny hated zombies.

She wished they could have been, oh she didn't know, anything _but._ Hell a nice killer vampire would have been more up her alley, she thinks as she hurdles over a fallen tree. Her ears pick them up and she curses under her breath. Danny was surprised they had followed her this far, at least half a mile already, and she wondered if their "programming" had been beefed up since her latest snatch and grabs had gotten on the Dean's or Hungry Light's message boards.

They moved only slightly faster than the previous carnation of them and it made her only snarl a response when one had grabbed her arm when she had gotten her food and water and headed out the back door. Danny had quickly dispatched it with her machete and had taken off when the others had heard the crumpling sound of Zombie Hawk Down.

She wondered if she really needed these clothes: her tank top, a blazer wrapped around her waist, along with a very disgusting pair of her once favorite pants. It wasn't like Danny could easily find others, but maybe in her... other form she could escape the mindless things coming after her. Even if she was another supernatural being, she didn't think she could survive a direct infection like a zombie bite.

Wait, what was that?

Danny suddenly stopped, her bag in her hand swinging idly by her side, and pricked up her ears. Metaphorically, anyways. No way was she letting her other set of ears to be exposed so soon in the game.

Was that? Yeah, yeah it was. Water! She could lose them at the river if she hurried.

She smiled and took a step, only to let out a huff of breath when her leg was caught on something. Or rather, something caught on her leg.

Looking back and snarling, she brought a very hard boot into the zombie's head and groaned as the very decomposed arm came off its body and lay limp beside her calf.

"That is just wrong," she said, getting up and dusting off her hands before retrieving her pack.

Her eyes widened further when she looked behind her briefly and saw a slew of walking corpses push out of the brush with moans and groans of the undead.

"Oookay," she said, turning promptly and bolting, "this is so fucking stupid!"

* * *

><p>Danny cracked her back, her pant legs soaked, as she looked out from the safety of the branches to the river bank. The zombies, some she noticed were part of the Summer Society or Zetas and she lowered her eyes filled with pain, had no concept of rushing water and thus lost her in its wake. There were at least fifteen of them, their unflinching in battle or to any injury making for less need of soldiers, and she knew if she had tried she wouldn't have been able to take them all. Maybe not even in her more beastly form. Maybe if she backtracked she could get more supplies from the halfway house as all the dumbass zombies had followed her here, from what she could tell.<p>

Raising up, making sure not to step on any branches, and hoping no poor soul was stupid enough to head towards that specific river, Danny walked away with her pack still clutched tightly in hand.

"So fucking stupid..."


	4. To Eat or not to Eat?

"Okay Perr, defensive systems are a go."

The tall red-head immediately came out of her makeshift kitchen after hearing the door slam shut, longing to hear those words out of her beautiful lover's lips and she sighed. Moving her hands in sporadic motions she replied, "Good because I don't think I can handle another deer coming in and eating all of our carrots like common criminals!"

"Perr," LaFontaine laughed, holding up a hand to stop Perry's words, "wildlife was here first, ya know."

"Well, now we're here. And if we want to make it work, we'll have to get along."

"I don't think putting up trip wires fashioned to exploding material will really... make us coexist any better."

"Oh you know what I mean."

LaFontaine laughed again. Turning, they looked out the small window embedded in the door and out to the small garden they had fashioned after a month of trying to find some type of seeds inside the cabin that wouldn't kill them. It had been a few weeks since the deer and other woodland creatures had decided to come around the cabin after smelling the flora stuck in the ground, and they wondered if there was some kind of repellant in the cabin, which came up to no avail.

The woes were simply forgotten as there wasn't much to complain about. The cabin that Danny had told them to get to all those months before had been so off the map, it was hard for even Perry and themselves to find it amongst the overgrown trees and brush blocking it from most every direction.

LaFontaine had worked diligently, as they ordered Perry to stay inside and take stock of their inventory, hiding the cabin as best they could on such short notice. They were scared most nights, huddled beside Perry on a small cot in one of the two bedrooms, allowing her to go out by herself to collect wood and other materials for their fire, but they soon placed their fear on the back burner as one month turned to two and two turned to three and so on of no conflict.

LaFontaine liked to think of it as The Village and they were cast as the devilish Adrien Brody and Perry as Bryce Howard. Isolated and alone, but together and alive. (Well, not so much Adrien's character because wow did that end badly and LaF was in no shape to have that happen to them.)

They were enjoying their time with Perry more than they could possibly hope for, but the nagging feeling of the world still literally coming to an end possibly was still a very high concept that LaF thought about on a regular basis. They knew Perry did as well, how could she not, and no matter how much she stirred their carrot soup, it wasn't going to change the fact that they were stuck in a cabin off the beaten path of Styria with no one but themselves to keep them company; and no way of knowing but to venture out and risk themselves how to stop such an ancient evil.

Now if only Laura and Danny would just make it back already.

* * *

><p>Okay, maybe if Laura just stepped really really carefully, she could backtrack into the forest brush before any of the zombies could-<p>

Pale dead eyes turned slowly, its mouth open in a groan and its teeth grimy and rotting.

Well that's not a plan anymore!

"Crap, crap, crap!" Laura whispered as she tried to decide where she was going to run to. Zombies, so she thought, didn't walk or run that fast and if they were all clumped at the riverbank, there was no way she couldn't make it out of this situation.

But, she thought as she watched as another and another- and yet a damn 'nother- pair of eyes looked to her, if there were any in the woods and she got taken off guard it'd be bad for her. She couldn't go back, she had to go forward. She had to find the cabin, her friends, anything!

Looking around quickly, just as the first of the zombie horde decided to start walking- really limping was the more appropriate term as its leg was gnawed at the knee- towards her. Laura saw a small indent of forest passing over the stream just enough so that if she jumped it, she could get to the other bank without getting wet and slowing down.

Okay, that's the best bet.

Only giving the nearing zombie one last look, Laura quickly bolted across the pebbles of the bank towards the indent. She was doing very well, she thought, as it wasn't like she was a natural sprinter like Danny but she was really giving it her all as fast as she thought she was running now. She could totally do this.

Her breath was in her chest when she felt herself falling- or maybe not- more like flipping as she landed on her back with a groan as a zombie came out of nowhere, or out of the forest whatever, and she catapulted full force into it. She let out a sputtering cough, her chest heaving as she tried to catch her breath, when fear like a punch to the gut clamped over her heart when a hand clenched her cargo pant leg. She screamed when claws scratched down her slightly visible calf and she let out a wail when she brought up her right foot and kicked it the hardest she could. She had to get away. She had to, at fucking least, shimmy the hell away!

The zombie was only slightly deterred but it still latched onto her, pulling itself onto her even more, and she saw it open its mouth wider prepared to chomp down on her stomach.

Oh god, not like this!

She reached behind her for the aluminum bat, her fingers trying to grasp the handle- come on, come on, come on!- her fear getting the best of her. Just grab the damn bat!

She found she didn't need it as the giant cat came roaring out of the trees. Laura flipped onto her belly from the momentum as the cat's claws punctured into the zombie's back and its jaws clamped over the scrape of its neck, throwing it what could have been a good fifteen feet. The zombie's back squelched against a tree, effectively bending its entire body in half, and Laura grimaced as she got to her feet, bat in hand.

"Good kitty!" Laura cried looking around her at the advancing zombies, her bat faced towards them, and looking dead at the cat in front of her.

Its fur was standing on end, its tail twitching low to the ground as it took in the threat before it. Its body was effectively in front of Laura, placing itself between her and the horde, and the lump in her throat became all too painful when she heard the thing roar again. Its head lifted, its sharp teeth bared, and the guttural sound that came out of its mouth was more terrifying than the zombies themselves. Laura knew if there were souls in that horde, they would have turned tail and run.

Because that is exactly what Laura did.

Slipping the bat in her hand so it would be pointed downward as she ran, Laura bolted again to the ridge indent, all the way hearing the roar of the cat and the squelching of flesh as it was ripped apart by too big claws, her steps only faltering for a moment before she braced herself as she neared the edge.

Maybe it was too large of a- Nope gotta go!

Laura closed her eyes as she took the final step on the mossy bank, her heart clutching in her throat as she flew towards the opposite bank, and she had just enough mind to roll when she felt the collision with her body.

"Holy _hell _that was awesome!" she cried out of breath when she got to her feet, happy that she wasn't wet in the slightest and, in conjunction, not hindered.

She turned to flee after placing her bat back into its holster when she heard the cat roar again, still fighting the onslaught and effectively keeping it from coming after Laura. She groaned, looking back to the haven of the woods but back again across the rushing water.

"Damn it," she hissed under breath before getting to the clearing of the bank and looking to the cat. "Hurry up!" she called to the thing, her hand over her head as if waving. "We gotta move! Let's go!" she shouted again as the cat's ears moved in her direction, hearing her plea.

Laura let out a small sigh when she saw the panther swing its mighty arm again, hitting probably the sixth zombie and sending it flying, before turning swiftly toward the bank and running at full speed. She ducked and let out a squeak when the cat jumped right to her, its paws sending up small pebbles in its wake. Laura was more surprised, however, when the scruff of her own neck was taken into mighty jaws- it's the end of me for sure- and hoisted onto the cat's back with the flick of its head. Instinctively, horse back riding for five years would do that to a girl, she grabbed hold of the inky fur and allowed her body to press against scalding fur and muscles as they took off into the forest and leaving the aimless zombies behind.

So the cat really was her ally after all, Laura thought as she allowed her breath to come in languid streams as they ran. Now that's just plain weird.

* * *

><p>Danny had been running for some time after the river bank. Her stamina outmatched by any Summer Society or Zeta, which she partially blamed on the wolf inside her, but also partially because of her conditioning on the track every day since she could remember. The bag that was now placed on her back, was of no hindrance even with its many supplies shoved into all folds, and she wondered how far away she was from the cabin.<p>

She hadn't realized it would be more than a few weeks trip, yes she had always driven in a car to get there but she still thought the difference wouldn't be so great, and no it wasn't like she was being attacked everyday by vampires or zombies when she tried to get there; and Danny cursed herself hotly whenever she thought back to the day she was separated from the group. If they hadn't gotten to the cabin because of her... Danny didn't think she could forgive herself.

Slowing to a walk, Danny pulled the pack off her back and allowed herself to lay against a tree as she rummaged for her canteen. Retrieving it, she popped it open and took a few swigs, slightly hissing from the sting across her ribcage as she did.

The vampire that had flung her away from Laura and the others had made it a point of following her into the woods that night. There was nothing but fire, screaming kids, and that stupid Light filling all of her senses, but she was smart enough to get far enough away from Laura and the others and baiting the vampire to her.

That's all that mattered anyways. Keeping the others safe.

It didn't take the vampire long to catch up, even she was no match in human form against a killing machine like that, but the thing was cocky. He wanted to talk to her about their conquest and about giving up and yadda yadda yadda.

He was awestruck when Danny smiled coyly, ripping off her blazer and throwing it to the ground in a huff. He was petrified when the muscles under Danny's skin started to ripple and change, the sinew elongating and her bones popping into place, her mouth opening into a scream of agony. It was quite painful, but she could deal. She was sure the vampire wanted to turn tail and run when her teeth pointed to sharpened daggers in her mouth, ripping their way out of her gums and down to a too wide mouth. Her eyes turned from blue to an unnatural hue of the same color, glaring out to the vampire with a comical smile on her wide features. Reddish fur spotted across her body and the animalistic urge took hold of her before she had howled up to the moon.

Danny had lunged at him after a growl, his neck to be precise, but missed. Her large clawed hand, however, did not and it got him square in the chest as he tried to skirt around her. She roared again, raising to her hind legs to reign over him and swiped downward, but he was too fast.

A sharp pain ran across her ribcage as his nails rushed across flesh and fur. She whined, unable to keep it at bay, but it was just the thing she had needed. He got cocky again.

His throat was in between her jaws before he could blink, blood squelching over her canines and chin in a moment of release. Danny had spit him out almost immediately as there was no time to gloat of her small victory, looked around with wolf eyes to assess the damage of Silas, grabbed her blazer between her teeth and ran deeper into the woods and away from the screams of dying students plaguing her heightened senses.

And now, Danny grimaced as she placed the canteen back into her bag and on her back, the wound was healed but the ghost pain still got her on occasion. But maybe if she-

Her head tilted up, her nose in the air as she smelled something faint wash across the forest.

Was that?...

No, it couldn't be. She sniffed the air again for good measure. Her eyes closing to take in the smell without any other sensor taking control, and she opened her eyes even slower. Peaches and vanilla.

Laura?


	5. Fight to the Death?

She honestly felt quite at home on the shifting back of the panther as they whistled through the trees. The rhythmic beating of its paws on the ground as it churned up fallen leaves and soft dirt were calming and the heated, huffing breath even more so. Laura wondered for the umpteenth time why this thing was helping her, why it would risk its life for her, and like all the other times came up empty. There was no reasonable explanation to why the cat sacrificed its own well being against the zombie horde, and no clear indication why it would save her life.

Though, she thought, I don't think I'm outta the woods just yet.

Her eyes, which had been aimlessly watching the blur of trees whiz by her, now felt heavy and hollow. Her forehead burned like raging fire and her heartbeat seemed to hammer against her chest as if it were a stampede. Her head raised from between the cats shoulder blades and hollow eyes traveled downward to her leg, which was only slightly dangling from the cats hinds as she rode, and she saw the scratch mark ranging from her calf down to her ankle. It was ugly, flared red and still bleeding, but not deep.

So why all the blood?

The cats obsidian fur glistened with dark, lurid liquid. Blood. Her blood. Laura frowned, wondering if the thing minded her bleeding all over it. Shaking her head, she had no idea what she was really thinking about, Laura made a small noise in the back of her throat when she felt suspended in space.

Not so suspended, she soon found out, as her neck and shoulder hit hard ground with a sickening thud and her head cracked against a rock as she skidded across the hard packed dirt. Immediately the cat halted, its large claws scratching into the dirt to make itself stop, and it bounded next to her, its nose probing her for further injury.

Slowly Laura reached up her hand and scratched its muzzle. "I'm okay, kitty. Thanks for asking." Her voice sounded broken even to her own ears and her body was weaker than she had ever felt it. She moved with discomfort when the cat sniffed, and slightly licked her calf wound. The bright sky was dimming slightly, was the war finally over and the Light had been destroyed? "It's getting a little dark in here," she said softly.

She groaned when a warm, wet tongue licked her neck to her cheek. Didn't the cat understand she didn't want to get even hotter than she was? She needed a cool drink of air, well that was out of the question since said air was all around them. Okay, maybe not air. Oh maybe a nice cool drink of water.

"Or a nice bath in it," Laura replied to herself. Frowning again, realizing she had been talking to herself and had lost some time, she felt the panther nudging her softly and said, "Do you mind not hovering over me like that? If I wasn't mistaken I would assume you're going to eat me." A cough and a groan. "I could really use my canteen."

Her eyes went wide and she groaned as her feverish thoughts turned to her only source of water. She had forgotten, or rather no time to because of the freakin zombie horde, to fill it up. Laura was running on empty and there was no other water source that she knew of close by. Couple that with her fever... no fly.

Still, the cats nose rummaged through her bag, and when its bright eyes found Laura's, it was holding the strap of her canteen in between its teeth and nudged it in her direction. She couldn't feel her arms to take it from the feline and the cat simply placed it to her side. Wow, what a nice panther.

"Maybe running from the zombie horde was not the brightest ideas," she whispered, her throat suddenly sore and dry. She wondered why her muscles ached and her head swam with thoughts. It was like being dragged underwater and trying to breathe. It didn't matter how much she wanted it. It didn't matter how much she longed for life. It was simply useless.

Her chest heaved, her breath coming out strained as if a large vice was securely around her throat and squeezing the the life out of her. Laura could hear her strenuous voice, squeaks, and air trying to pass through her seizing lungs as she placed a hand on her stomach and looked up at the looming cat.

She tried to smile. "You can't eat my body when I'm dead." The cats eyes grew to slits, whites of teeth baring slightly, as it replied to her confession. "Maybe I'll be able to see Carmilla again. Nostalgic idiot," she mimicked Carmilla all those months ago and coughed a laugh. She looked to the cat again, her arm was there suddenly scratching its muzzle gently and she smiled kindly. So she could still move her arms, that's good. Very good. "I guess the price to see her would be death. How stupid is that?"

Laura laughed slightly before her body was wracked with coughs. Moving her hand away from her mouth showed crimson and she grimaced. She wanted to cry, wanted to scream frustratedly. She wanted to see the kind eyes of her friends again, of LaF making some stupid science joke and Perry freaking out over something small. Danny with her strong and beautiful and protective love. She wanted, needed, to see them all again. Wanted to jump into their arms and have Christmas dinner and sing carols off key and be loved while giving love. And yet she was here, laying in the dirt looking up at the tall green trees and a large cat. Her back aching, her body dying and her eyes hollow. At least it was a beautiful place to die, she thought slowly.

She focused on the cat and smiled, ready to say something else, before her weary eyes caught its ears moving slightly, its head suddenly rising up. Her heart and blood ran cold when she heard it growl lowly, its fur raising up across its body, and her hand fell harshly back to her side.

"Kit-"

The cat, the warmth, was gone in a blur of roars and growls. And Laura just knew she was going to die terrified and alone.

* * *

><p>There was nothing for Danny in the world anymore. She had lost all of her girls when the Hungry Light had risen over the school and the vampires began their assault. Laughingly, she would want her girls dead than to be turned into a blood sucking monster in obedience to that light as most of them were probably now.<p>

Regardless, Danny had nothing else. She had a slight grudge match with LaFontaine, but it was petty and meaningless now. Perry wasn't really her cup of tea, but the floor don was always nice and welcoming to any girl who needed it. Carmilla, yeah her, she was alright after awhile if Danny was being completely honest to herself. She had gotten better, Danny admitted, with the love and care from the smallest puff of joy in, what she'd liked to believe, all their lives.

Caring, wonderful, amazing Laura. That was what drew Danny to her in the first place. How cute and kind she was. She was so optimistic, so new and refreshing in the world of hard truths and filled with lies. Laura never did anything that could hinder someone else and she was so brave in the face of all things terrible that went bump in the night.

Danny guessed that's what Carmilla had been drawn to as well.

It was no secret of Danny's crush on the small girl, and she wondered if the vampire never came along if their attraction would have become something more. She hated thinking of that. Of laying on the ground at night, thinking of all the things that could never be, twisting and turning as she tortured herself. Tortured herself with the memories of someone probably long since dead. No one that innocent and that kind could survive in the world that Styria had been turned into.

But could she have? The whiff Danny had gotten only moments before she bolted through the trees was one of remembrance. One of love and kindness and innocence. One of peaches and vanilla. After all this time could Laura really and truly be alive? And if that was the case, did that mean Danny was no longer alone in her melancholy? Would she have a pack to call her own, of loved ones and happiness in these dark times. So many questions all surging forth from a simple aroma caught on the trails of air.

And as she bolted through the greenery, her muscles growing hotter as cold adrenaline chilled the pit of her stomach, she thought she would finally be able to breath again.

* * *

><p>LaFontaine was having a very nice dream, thank you very much, before they were rudely interrupted by a loud cacophony of noises somewhere in front of the cabin. They raised up, groggy and disoriented, and unlatched a hand from Perry's side to rake their hair back and rub their eyes.<p>

They really wished they could remember their dream because it was actually a very happy one.

Sliding off the bed silently, Perry made a noise and turned her body over to where LaF was just sleeping to feel the warmth, and they smiled down to her before exiting the room quietly. Or as quietly one can be with slightly creaking floorboards. Man did they need to get some WD-40 up in here. It solved every problem!

Shaking their head and yawning, LaFontaine walked in the darkly lit cabin to the front door. They were thankful they had memorized every nook and cranny of the place, so walking in the dead of night didn't deter them in the slightest. Guess it was a good thing they had lived there for so long.

Peering out of the small window in the upper part of the door, LaF usually wondered and smiled at the notion of Laura being too tiny to look out of it without a step stool, they looked around to see what the noises were coming from.

It was lighter than usual, maybe the moon cycle coming full circle and achieving waxing gibbous finally, yet they could not see anything that would cause such excessive noise to be heard all the way back into the cabin. Frowning, they pushed themselves away from the door and placed a thumb to their cheek in thought.

"The explosions had enough material to scare one away, more flare than force that's my motto, but a lucky shot could kill one," they pondered. "Waiting til morning would be better."

LaFontaine nodded to themselves, yep perfect plan, and turned to walk back to the room. They yawned again when they walked across the cool floorboards and side stepped the creaking board to not wake Perry. She was their everything and they wouldn't give her up for the world. Best friends since seven would do that to a person, but it was much more than that. Something LaFontaine couldn't put their finger on.

Shimming back into bed, LaF wrapped her arms around their girlfriend and snuggled in closer. Tarts and apples, that were the best smells to them and just so happened to be the smells of her very wonderful girlfriend.

That, however, were not the smells they were taking in now.

Opening their eyes quickly, LaF fell backward off the bed, grabbing for their weapons holster they kept near the cot at all times but to no avail. Someone had moved it.

"Looking for this?" a cold rhetorical voice rang out. An all too familiar voice.

The candle lights suddenly flared, LaFontaine covering their eyes only slightly at the sudden brightness pouring throughout the room, and as they opened them again fully their mouth dropped.

Dark cold eyes and a wicked smile, holding Perry by the throat mercilessly, was none other than Willy- boy himself. Their eyes traveled to the bed and they saw the slight body of an unknown girl laying there, her canines pointed to fangs.

_Fuck me, Freddy. I really wish I could remember my dream._

Maybe then they could think of some type of goodness before the shit storm happened all over again.

* * *

><p>The panthers pupils were suddenly constricted, its tail held low but at attention, its fur standing on end as it heard the comings of the beast. It didn't want to leave the human to encounter the threat head on and ready, however, and was far from caught off guard when a pain ripped through its side as a vicious bite, most like the one it had given the zombie, sunk deep into its shoulder and threw it off balance. Falling onto its back and doubling over quickly, it raised up onto its powerful legs and looked at the threat before it.<p>

A large red wolf that had doubled back to give enough maneuvering ability, had its body held low to the ground. Its gums were bared and teeth sharp while its fur bristled across its body. Letting out a bark of warning and anger towards the panther, it was matched instantly by a howl from the feline in response.

There was no time for this. The human could die at any moment and the cat needed to find a way to save it. The dripping wound from the cats shoulder was infuriating and the feline let out another drawn out yowl as it held its head low to the ground, twitching its tail back and forth waiting for the strike.

Whatever this supernatural bitch wanted, as it was much larger than any wolf the panther had seen, it was definitely the human. And there was no way in hell the cat was going to give it up.

It was the wolf to attack first. It rushed at the panther, its jaws opened and snarling for a snap lunge and it was of no surprise when the obsidian cat simply moved out of the way. Its heightened senses reading every movement, knowing that one well placed attack from the wolf would be the end of it as it was in equal size, if not larger, with more brute force behind its jaws.

It didn't want to kill the bitch, but it couldn't suffer it to stay with them.

Roaring back on its hind legs, the cat swiftly dodged the attack and brought a hard claw tipped paw down across the wolf's cheek, scratching off flesh and cracking the ground with its force. The wolf retreated for a moment, a whine escaping its throat most likely on accident, and shook its head free of the disorientation.

The feline didn't give it time, however, and it lunged at the thing. Ducking low to the ground and swiftly lunging upward, the panther grabbed it by the throat a lot easier than need be and the cat let out a sickening growl before it pinned the wolf onto the ground, its teeth working into the soft tissue of its throat.

The wolf howled in pain, almost like a kicked puppy, and its hind legs tried to grasp at the panther's underbelly. The cat growled, feeling blood rush across its muzzle and chin and bit down harder, aware of the instant stillness of the bitch. It knew it was close to death if the feline chomped down one more time, and at least the attacker was agreeable of not wanting to die at this very moment.

Huffing, the giant panther opened its wide jaws and let the thing go, allowing it to fall to the ground in a heap. Waiting a moment, slitted eyes on golden, it pawed at the red fur aggressively, egging the beast to move.

_Get the fuck out. You're not welcomed here._

Staggering, slowly, the wolf raised to its wobbling feet. It knew the next time it came after this human again it would be killed without mercy. It knew the panther was too powerful for it, or at least in technique, and it stared at the feline dangerously. A low growl emitted from the cats throat, giving it all the encouragement it needed, and the wolf took the hint.

Turning slowly, its head down much as its tail and ears, the Were slowly limped away after one more glimpse to the human.

Next time, it vowed as it looked into crimson orbs. Next time.

* * *

><p>Someone was humming softly to her. It was sweet, the melody, and it sounded old as if someone would sing it to their children long ago. It was more so agreeable to her ears when she heard the soft rasp of the one voice she longed to hear for so long.<p>

Opening her eyes slowly, her body still aching and her mouth dry, Laura could have sworn she saw the curl of her roommate's hair as they dabbed a cool cloth over her forehead. The night sky was full of light and it radiated over the girl's head like a halo.

Her angel Carmilla.

She didn't know she fell unconscious until she opened her eyes and it was later on in the night. The only reason she knew that was because the smells of the earth and animals all about her were overwhelming, much like it was when they moved around during the first few hours of nightfall. Her eyes were watery, yet she could still see everything from the moon's illumination, and she tilted her head when a slight tap of something caught her attention.

Her body was still incredibly hot, so she still had a fever or whatever it was, but as her angel came into view with the top of her thermos cup in hand, she felt herself smile. Cool liquid rushed down her throat as Carmilla placed the cup to her lips and she tipped it slowly for Laura to drink her fill. She was too greedy, however, and she sputtered a cough as water slid down her chin and throat.

"Shh," Carmilla cooed, her hand flying down beside her and up to Laura's throat, wiping away the excess with the cloth Laura used to clean her pan in the rivers.

She wanted to talk to her. Wanted to say how much she missed her. But her eyes grew heavy after another moment of simply staring up to Carmilla and she slowly slipped back into unconsciousness.

Laura awoke to a pain in her leg, yet nothing else as she felt almost back to normal, and she let out a cry of discomfort when she tried to move.

The soft cooing of Carmilla's voice resounded in her ear again as the girl placed a cool hand on her ribcage, yet even through the tank top the touch was scalding, and pushed her back down again. Tilting her head to the side, Laura found the vampire was bandaging her wound, now the bleeding had completely stopped and there was nothing but a small scratch, after dabbing the cloth into some kind of ointment by her side.

She grew relaxed, her hand running down to gently clasp onto Carmilla's knee as the vampire sat cross legged, and Laura felt tears well in her eyes.

"I've missed you," she whispered, aware of the grogginess hitting her full force again. It didn't matter, however, as all she needed and craved was the girl sitting beside her. Anything was possible with Carmilla by her side.

Laura briefly saw a slight small cross the vampire's features, which was quickly wiped away by a fake frown, and the human tried to smile. Before her eyes closed for the last time that night, she saw a small scar, almost like a grotesque bite wound, running from Carmilla's shoulder to her neck. What had caused that Laura wondered, and was going to ask if her lover was alright, before her mind betrayed her and she fell into a fitful sleep.

"Carm!" Laura gasped as she awoke to the blinding light of morning. Breathing heavily, she looked around fervently across the small clearing.

A soft touch on her back made her jump with joy and she turned happily, only to see the black cat nuzzling her with a soft purr in its throat. It had been sleeping above her with its belly warming her head, she noticed.

"Oh," Laura said sadly, her tears stinging the back of her throat. "It's just you." Making a face, as the cat tilted its head and opened one eye, she corrected, "No offense," before laying back down next to the large feline.

Flinging her arm across her forehead, Laura lay next to the warm now sleeping cat, and contemplated the very real dream as her body stitched itself further together.


End file.
